View full sizeTaylor Ferns puts on her safety equipment before practicing in her No. 55 Toyota for the ARCA-Mobile 200 at Mobile International Speedway on Saturday, March 2, 2013. (Mark Inabinett/minabinett@al.com)

MOBILE, Alabama - Taylor Ferns has been racing since she was 6 years old, so you can't expect her to get too worked up over her debut in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. But that doesn't mean she isn't looking forward to the ARCA-Mobile 200 at Mobile International Speedway on Saturday.

"Any race is the same thing: It's just another race," she said in between signing autographs at the ARCA-Mobile 200 fan fest on Thursday. "But since it's my first ARCA start, I'm really excited and I'm really anxious. But I know I have a great support group and a great team behind me and great teammates to work with, so I'm really excited."

What would really be exciting for her is if she can make her first ARCA race her first ARCA win.

"That's what I always go to the track for," she said. "I know I have a great car and a great crew chief. I know we have a car capable of winning. It's just all up to me."

Ferns is a 17-year-old from Shelby Township, Mich., who's giving ARCA a try this season after winning more U.S. Auto Club features than any other female in the series' history. She's scheduled to drive in seven ARCA races this season with Venturini Motorsports. On Saturday, she'll be wheeling the No. 55 Motor City Auto Transport Toyota.

That'll be a departure from the USAC Midget and Silver Crown cars that she's excelled in, and she's having to make adjustments that most people haven't even thought about.

"Coming from an open-wheel car -- a lot of people don't really think about this -- but we sit in the middle of the car compared to a stock car, where we sit to the left side of the car," Ferns said. "It may sound kind of dumb, but that kind of has been an adjustment. And the ARCA cars are heavier and that's also a part of it, too. But overall, it's been a good transition."

Ferns and her team came to Mobile International Speedway on Saturday to practice. Ferns said she liked the half-mile oval, even though she took a short but wild ride in Turn 1 on one trip around the track.

"I really enjoyed Mobile," Ferns said. "I think it's a really fun track, and I'm really excited for it to be my first ARCA start, so I just can't wait for the race on Saturday.

"When we were doing the mock qualifying run with the new tires at night and since it was so cold, with the new tires I just sort of started sliding up the track. A rookie mistake and you learn from that, and, hopefully, we won't do that again."

At many other tracks, Ferns might have dented her No. 55. But Mobile International Speedway has walls only along the frontstretch, so there was nothing there for Ferns to hit.

"For a pavement track with no walls, it was kind of weird," she said. "It kind of reminded me of a dirt track because at some dirt tracks growing up there would be no walls. So I guess it did kind of take me back to my racing roots."

The junior at Lutheran High School North in Macomb, Mich., grew up with a racing background. Her uncle Don LaDuke made 47 ARCA starts between 1992 and 1997.

"It's my passion," Ferns said of racing. "It's what I love to do. I started racing when I was 6. I come from a racing family. My uncle used to race at the local Michigan short track, and he also did some ARCA racing in his career. When I got into racing at 6 years old, I started racing quarter midgets, and I kind of went up from there.

"Eventually I want to make it to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. That's my ultimate goal. I think ARCA is a good stepping stone to that."

Ferns has a diverse pairing of favorite drivers: "I'd say I really look up to Tony Stewart a lot. And Lyn St. James, I admire her a lot."

Stewart is a current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star and former champion. St. James was the first women to be the rookie of the year at the Indianapolis 500. St. James, who's now retired, made six Indy starts between 1992 and 2000.

Ferns will take part in qualifying tonight. Here's the ARCA-Mobile 200 weekend schedule: